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Topics - Marcoose

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1
Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Lathe/Mill Combo Conversion
« on: February 20, 2007, 04:33:01 PM »
Here are some shots of my Lathe/Mill combo.  I purchased it in Canada from Busy Bee Tools (Craftex Brand) but there are some disturbingly similar ones available elsewhere ;)  (e.g. Harbor Freight etc.)

I bought this as my first machine a newbie, I realize now the mill column isn't super-stiff and it's kind of awkward having to put a riser block on the bed to get near the spindle.  It works fairly well for my hobby-grade stuff nonetheless.









(why yes, that is an A2Z toolpost, home made digitizing probe on top of the cabinet, homecnc.info servos, homeshopcnc ballscrews, etc...  ;D   8)  )

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Tangent Corner / Collet chuck source?
« on: October 16, 2006, 04:06:22 PM »
Hi All,

I recently purchased a collet chuck to use in my mill.  I have a lathe/mill combo and the distance from the mill head to
the cross-slide is just a bit more than an endmill mounted with a collet directly in the spindle.  The collet chuck adds
another 1.5" or so and comes with tiny collets to hold some engraving tools (3/32") that I want to tinker with.
Unfortunately there appears to be a great deal of runout in the chuck itself.  If I mount an endmill in any of the
collets and run a dial indicator at the non-fluted based of the endmill there is as much as .005" of runout.  By the
time this is extended to the end of the cutter, there is a noticeable wobble that makes the cuts much wider than
the tool bit.  I assumed it was a poor quality chuck (eBay  ::) ), but I see this set from Smithy http://www.smithy.com/ecom/detail.asp?n=Spring+Collet+Chuck+Set&sc=MILL+%26+DRILL+SETUP
says concentric to .005".  That's pretty crappy even for my less-than-perfect equipment. 

I would try to true this one up a bit, but I'm not sure how to go about it since I can't clamp it true in my lathe
(no taper in my spindle, just a 3" jaw chuck).  I thought about mounting a cutter upright and bringing the mill head
down on it to center the taper, but if the collets are also bad I see no way I am capable of fixing them.

Does anyone know of a source that sells a more accurate collet chuck?  It seems like a great solution for me as it makes
tool changing relatively quick, doesn't requiring hammering on the drawbar against my Z-axis drive, and gives me my
needed extra length to reach thin plate directly on my machine bed.

Thanks for any input!

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